Officials in Arlington, Virginia, are working behind the scenes with left-wing non-governmental organizations (NGOs), who support abolishing federal immigration enforcement, to shape county policy that shields criminal illegal aliens from arrest and deportation.
An investigation from the Immigration Reform Law Institute (IRLI) reveals the extent to which Arlington County board members are working hand-in-hand with activists from the Legal Aid Justice Center (LAJC) to protect illegal aliens arrested for crimes from being turned over to the Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents.
In July, the Arlington County board unanimously approved a quasi-sanctuary policy that bans local police from inquiring about a suspect’s immigration status and requires officers to ask their supervisor’s permission before notifying ICE agents about an illegal alien in their custody.
“These groups claim they are protecting the rights of non-citizens but it is a net loss for a jurisdiction when criminal aliens are put back on the street rather than face deportation,” IRLI President Dale Wilcox said in a statement. “The result of this policy will inevitably be a more dangerous community, period.”
As it turns out, private emails published by IRLI’s investigation show, the Arlington County board collaborated on the sanctuary policy with LAJC and other left-wing NGOs:
E-mails obtained by IRLI show that Arlington county board members and their staff actively collaborated with radical anti-borders organizations when formulating the Trust Policy. [Emphasis added]
Simon Sandoval-Moshenburg, legal director Legal Aid Justice Center (LAJC) wrote to the Chair of the Arlington County Board, Katie Cristol to express consternation that his organization was not consulted before the Board produced an initial draft of the Trust policy. He stated, “Katie, do you have a minute to discuss the Trust Policy issue? We and a number of folks we’re talking to are very dissatisfied with the substance of the policy that’s been released, but perhaps more urgently, we’re very unhappy with the fact that it’s apparently being rushed to a vote ….” read a June 8 email to County Chair Katie Cristol.
[Emphasis added]Sandoval-Moshenburg apparently got his wish to slow the process down. According to emails exchanged later that day, a board staffer spoke with board member Matt de Ferranti and learned that voting on the Trust Policy would be pushed to July. [Emphasis added]
The vote was delayed ostensibly to accommodate commentary and suggested edits from the LAJC and other radical organizations like it. On July 15, board member Matt de Ferranti sent an email to anti-borders activists, among them SandovalMoshenburg and personnel associated with La ColectiVA. Attached to the email was a “near final draft of the Trust Policy.” Ferranti says explicitly that the updated draft includes “some/many” changes that the activists wanted. He ended the message by saying he looked forward to speaking to them later that morning, presumably to discuss the policy further. [Emphasis added]
LAJC has advocated for abolishing ICE altogether, posting earlier this year:
Likewise, the investigation finds that LAJC’s work to shield criminal illegal aliens from arrest and deportation by ICE is being partially funded with Arlington County taxpayer money. About $105,00 in tax dollars was confirmed to be allocated to LAJC in the county budget this year.
“It is beyond outrageous that elected officials in an American city would engage in backroom deal-making to further the interests of immigration violators and foreign criminals, rather than fulfilling their oath to protect U.S. citizens,” IRLI’s Director of Investigations Matt O’Brien said.
A similar investigation, published in May by IRLI, found that Democrat sheriffs are increasingly rolling back local police cooperation with ICE agents and thus shielding criminal illegal aliens from deportation — instead, releasing them back into their communities.
John Binder is a reporter for Breitbart News. Email him at jbinder@breitbart.com. Follow him on Twitter here.
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